Posted By Adrian Dater On February 3, 2010 @ 8:39 pm In General Avs | No Comments

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NASHVILLE – Ever walk around a Confederate cemetery at night? Me neither, until tonight. Mind you, I did it with the utmost respect and don’t think I was “trespassing” on the McGavock cemetery, where 1,481 Confederate soldiers came to their final resting place, after the Battle of Franklin in the Civil War.
But, having gotten to the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tenn., about an hour past closing time tonight, there was not much for me to see other than the McGavock cemetery, in the dark. Is it a little creepy walking around a Civil War cemetery in the black darkness of night, totally alone? Maybe a little. But as a pretty big Civil War history buff, it was worth it.

There is a book about the Battle of Franklin and its aftermath, by Robert Hicks, called “The Widow of the South.” It’s mostly about the woman who tended to the grounds of the Carnton Plantation, the cemetery, and the Confederate cause in general at the time of the battle – Carrie McGavock. It was a New York Times beststeller, and I promptly ordered it on Amazon tonight when I got back to the hotel here.

Also had a great time visiting downtown Franklin afterward. Ate dinner at a terrific pizza place called The Mellow Mushroom (try the barbecue chicken and artichoke heart pizza). Franklin has an old-school main street, with local shops and such, and it was also fun reading the local weekly paper, The Williamson Herald. You know you’re reading a small-town paper when one of the headlines on P. 1 is “Aldermen OK sewer service for vet clinic outside city.” But I love reading such papers; the smaller the better. Very relaxing to do so.

So anyway, I’m here for a hockey game too, tomorrow night at the Sommet Center. What’s a Sommet? I have no idea. Just another faceless corporate entity as far as I know.

Craig Anderson will get his 11th straight start, against the Predators. I’d say there’s every chance in the world that Andy might play every single game the rest of the season. The Olympic break is the big reason why. That, and the fact it looks like the Avs are going to be in a dogfight for either the division crown and/or a playoff spot overall.

Some of you are starting to wring your hands about this. “Isn’t it time to give Budaj a game?” the fretting goes? Boods has played pretty well in the brief time Joe Sacco has put him out there, but if you think Sacco was tentative to put him in before, do you think he’s going to go to him in a playoff race, especially one in which Andy had a two-week rest starting Feb. 14? I don’t think so.

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Reports out of Atlanta and Canada tonight said Ilya Kovalchuk has been told to wait by the phone for an imminent trade. I still get a lot of questions from Avs fans, wondering if the Avs could be a darkhorse as part of a deal. And my answer remains: no.
Here’s a caveat: if Don Waddell can somehow be convinced that taking John Liles, a forward and maybe a draft pick, then I would say Stan Kroenke would sign off on that deal. Who would the forward be? Ideally, the Avs would love it to be Marek Svatos. But – and this is my speculation only on this one – maybe Wojtek Wolski could be sacrificed? Would Waddell go for that?

I doubt it. But that isn’t the worst offer in the world, for a guy who is going to be an unrestricted free agent and wants the moon salary-wise for his next deal. Heck no it isn’t.

So, while my answer remains “No, the Avs aren’t going to get Ilya Kovalchuk”, I learned a long time ago to provide a little wiggle room with such answers. The key for Colorado would be to re-sign him, but can they afford a guy who wants a max salary of $11.2 million as part of a new deal? Honestly, I don’t see it. And I just haven’t heard anything substantial, in a bunch of calls on the matter, that lead me to believe the Avs are a player in this potential deal. But I’ve been surprised before by this team – and don’t forget that Pierre Lacroix still has his name on the team’s masthead.